Forty-Two

Posted on October 20, 2015 //

Today marks 42 laps around the sun for me. 21 years since I turned 21. I’m getting older numerically but striving to stay young mentally. I’m enjoying finding things to “be bad at” so that I can eventually get good at them. This list currently includes things like daily mindfulness meditation, learning very basic Spanish through Duolingo, and swimming laps a couple times a week.

I’m also spending more time playing and writing music, jamming with friends and family members, and performing live every now and then.

I’m trying to workout daily and as a result I’m regularly walking the fine line between getting in better shape and hurting my aging body. Every workout is an adventure in fitness and feebleness all at the same time.

I’m attempting to read a little everyday and listen to audible audio books everyday too, so that my mind is continually fed with new ideas to consider.

I’m trying to be more me and less anyone else. I don’t need other people to think like me, approve of me, or agree with me, but I do need to respectfully show up and genuinely be me. I do want to be liked and loved and respected and trusted, but not at the expense of my integrity. I’m everyday aspiring to be more comfortable in my own skin.

I’m trying to be a good friend and be there for those who’ve been there for me all these years. I’ve been fortunate to have a few very close lifelong friends, and many, many more people who are in a broader category great friends I knew well or know now. Seeing a couple hundred people I know in myriad ways take the time to wish me happy birthday on Facebook today was a huge reminder of the good fortune this life as had for me this far. The flood of memories that your simple birthday wishes brought back filled my day with smiles.

Most importantly, I’m trying to be the best father and husband I can be. Nothing matters more to me than the love of my family. Nothing brings me greater happiness. They are the inspiration for everything above. I’m striving to be more engaged, more patient, more thoughtful, more responsible, more happy, more present, and more loving in more ways, more often. I’m not the perfect husband or the perfect dad, but these are what I genuinely aspire to become great at more than anything in this short and fleeting adventure known as life.